Famous Parts Turned Down By Famous Stars

[ForeverChiefs58]

I found this really interesting and thought I'd share. I can't imagine some of these movies if they'd had their original casting

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse

I heard Jed Clampett was cast as the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. He caught pnuemonia and the other guy was a last minute stand in.

He had the part of the Tin Man, but was allergic to the silver paint/makeup.

[whoman69]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

Will Smith turned down Neo in The Matrix to go shoot Wild Wild West. Also, Kevin Costner turned down Andy in Shawshank Redemption.

I wish Will Smith would have done the Matrix instead. Without him, that abortion of a movie Wild Wild West would have never been made. That was my favorite show when I was a kid.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by durtyrute

Will Smith in the Matrix would have been SHIT.

Agreed.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Stewie

He had the part of the Tin Man, but was allergic to the silver paint/makeup.

yep

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by whoman69

I wish Will Smith would have done the Matrix instead. Without him, that abortion of a movie Wild Wild West would have never been made. That was my favorite show when I was a kid.

Yeah they shit all over it. I watched about the first 20 minutes and had to turn away. Sadness.

[CrazyHorse]

Originally Posted by Stewie

He had the part of the Tin Man, but was allergic to the silver paint/makeup.

Hmm. Now Ive heard two stories.

I found it odd because it was a dancing role in a movie. But later found he was a professional dancer. Looking back he did a little dancing on the Hillbillys.

[gblowfish]

http://tinyurl.com/blr7c97

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse

Hmm. Now Ive heard two stories.

I found it odd because it was a dancing role in a movie. But later found he was a professional dancer. Looking back he did a little dancing on the Hillbillys.

Stewie is right.

[saphojunkie]

Roles turned down by James Caan:

Apocalypse Now
First choice to play Col. Lucas (Harrison Ford) but he wanted too much money.
Actor who got the part: Harrison Ford

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The studio considered Caan to play Roy Neary but he was too expensive.
Actor who got the part: Richard Dreyfuss

The French Connection
Caan was offered the role of Detective Doyle.
Actor who got the part: Gene Hackman

The Goodbye Girl
The role of the egocentric, pretentious NY actor was offered to Caan, a legend for turning down big roles in hit movies.
Actor who got the part: Richard Dreyfuss

Kramer vs. Kramer
Caan turned down the lead role in Kramer vs. Kramer because he reportedly thought the character was not interesting enough.
Actor who got the part: Dustin Hoffman

MASH
Turned down the chance to star in one of the most memorable and influential movies of the '70s.
Actor who got the part: Elliott Gould


Unwisely turned down the lead role of .

[Frankie]

This is a repost thread. I distinctly remember posting what I'm about to post here. It might have even been a thread I started. Oh well, too lazy to check it out.

Richard Burton always regretted having turned down the role of daddy von Trapp in 'The Sound of Music.' Ironically the actor who played the role, Christopher Plummer, hates the movie, always referring to it as "the Sound of Mucus." ..... Go figure!

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

http://tinyurl.com/blr7c97

I think this is Jackman's face saving story. BTW, at the time he was my favorite contender for the role of Bond.

Barbara Broccoli, however, is rumored to have the hots for Craig and that Craig was her handpicked chioce, blonde and short be damned. I read someplace that she insisted on personally being at the shoot while the torture seen was being shot. Her designated 'boy toy' was gonna be nude there, of course. Babbs is said to have rejected Hugh Jackman as a viable choice calling him effeminate!

[ForeverChiefs58]

The Matrix was one of the best action movie trilogies to have been released and Keanu Reeves made the central character of Neo his own. But he was not the first choice for the part and both Will Smith and Nicholas Cage turned down the part before it was offered to Reeves.

They were not the only actors to miss out on starring in the movie as it was reported that Sean Connery turned down the part of Morpheus, with Laurence Fishburne being the beneficiary of this as he went on to make a big success of the part.

Connery also unbelievably turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. It was pretty much a no brainer that the film would be a success, although Connery reportedly turned it down due to the length of time that was involved in filming it.

American Beauty is a movie that had great commercial and Oscar success. Kevin Spacey played the central character in the movie, Lester Burnham who is a man going through a midlife crisis. Spacey won an Oscar for the part which might have rankled with Chevy Chase as he turned down the part before it was offered to Spacey.

The Shawshank Redemption started life as a Stephen King novella called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. It was adapted for the big screen and although originally receiving a fairly lukewarm reception it has since gone on to be immensely popular. Tim Robbins plays the main character of Andy Dufrense who spends two decades in prison after being convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover. However Robbins was not the first choice for the part and both Tom Hanks and Kevin Costner are known to have turned down the part.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most successful movies of all time and helped to make Harrison Ford into a huge star. However Tom Selleck had originally been cast in the role of Indiana Jones only to pull out of the production so that he could continue making Magnum PI.

Another classic Harrison Ford movie is Blade Runner. Ford was excellent as the central character of Rick Deckard who is a special police officer trained to hunt down and “retire” artificial humans known as replicants. However Dustin Hoffman was originally offered the part although made the mistake of turning this down.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Al Pacino has played some memorable characters in his acting career but has also missed out on a few classic movies as a result of turning down parts. Some of those he is reported to have turned down include Han Solo in Star Wars and Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas. However one he must surely have a little tinge of regret about is the classic movie Apocalypse Now where he reportedly turned down the part of Captain Willard, which was made famous by Martin Sheen.

Steve McQueen is another actor who had a successful career although he turned down a few roles in some famous movies. Some of these included the part of Sundance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the part of Popeye Doyle in the French Connection and he followed the mistake of Al Pacino by also turning down the part of Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now.

Over the years there have been many classic movies with The Wizard of Oz ranking high on the list of these. Reputedly the role of the wizard in the movie was originally offered to W.C. Fields. However he supposedly turned it down as a result of not being offered enough money to do it and the part went to Frank Morgan instead.

Ghost was one of the best movies in Patrick Swayze’s career. However supposedly the role he played was originally offered to Bruce Willis who turned it down leaving the way open for Swayze.

Most of the movies mentioned above were classics and the actors in them made the parts they played their own. However the films may have turned out differently if the original actors offered the parts had said yes, although as they turned them down we shall never know.

[gblowfish]

http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/...ves/35388.html
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.c...able-roles.htm
http://www.onlygoodmovies.com/good/movies/100-2/actors/